The match of the 8th round of the Russian Premier League with Orenburg, held at RZD Arena, ended with the victory of our team with a score of 1:0.
Ivan Sergeyev stepped in for the suspended Konstantin Tyukavin, taking over both the center-forward role and the captain's armband. Andrey Lunyov returned in goal, having not played since the opening round. Otherwise, the starting lineup remained unchanged from the derby against Spartak.
Neither team opted to sit back, setting a high tempo right from the start. In the 9th minute, Ivan Sergeyev curled a shot toward the far corner from the edge of the penalty area; Bogdan Ovsyannikov parried it straight in front of him, but Bitello failed to convert the rebound. The Orenburg goalkeeper also tipped a long-range effort from Rubens out for a corner, from which Maksim Osipenko nearly scored with a header using the back of his head.
Lunyov was also called into action twice during the opening 15 minutes. First, he turned a tricky shot from Andrey Kasadzhikov out for a corner, and shortly after, he beat Gedeon Guzina to the ball just as the striker was rushing to connect with a cross from the right flank.
In the second half of the period, play took place primarily in the visitors' half. Set-piece situations were dangerous: first, Danil Glebov fired over the crossbar after a layoff from Arthur; shortly after, following a corner kick, David struck the ball so it bounced off the turf, forcing Ovsyannikov to make a difficult save. In the 42nd minute, even he would have been helpless had Sergeyev hit the target from ten meters out following an excellent pass from Juan Cáceres — but, alas, the shot went just over.
The second half began with a quick attack by the "White-and-Blues": Bitello burst into the penalty area and rolled the ball to Sergeyev; after a deflection off a defender, Ovsyannikov diverted the ball onto the post. Yaroslav Gladyshev had two follow-up attempts — the first was blocked by Yevgeny Bolotov, the second by the goalkeeper. Both used their hands to make the saves. The result was a yellow card for the visiting defender and a penalty kick. Maksim Osipenko struck the ball toward the right corner, but Ovsyannikov saved it with a spectacular dive.
Dynamo pinned their opponents back into their own penalty area but lacked the decisive touch: Rubens sent a cross into nowhere from a promising position, and Bitello fired over the bar from a dangerous free-kick. Sandro Schwarz then freshened up the attack with a double substitution, bringing on Daniil Fomin and Viktor Okishor in place of Gladyshev and Arthur.
However, scoring chances suddenly began to emerge at our end. Within a few minutes, Lunyov saved three dangerous shots from Guzina, Bolotov, and Damian Puebla. With ten minutes remaining, Dmitry Skopintsev and newcomer Maximiliano Gutiérrez came onto the pitch. Almost immediately, our number seven had a golden opportunity to score: Bitello found him in the box, Skopa cut past a defender, and fired a right-footed shot just over the top corner.
Skopintsev quickly wore down the tiring defenders, and the goal originated on that very left flank. Bitello poked the ball forward to Okishor; Vitya beat one opponent, cut past Bolotov with a feint, and decided to shoot from 25 meters out—the ball took a slight deflection off Maksim Sivis and dipped beautifully into the far top corner!
Frustrated, the visitors began playing roughly; Ruslan Kul and Sivis received second yellow cards in quick succession. Then, in the final minute, a rough shove on Sergeyev by Puebla sparked a mass scuffle, resulting in referee Pavel Kukuyan sending off a member of the coaching staff from each side.
Ultimately, Dynamo secured their fifth consecutive victory, reaching 16 points and moving up to provisional second place in the standings. In the next round, they will play an away match against Rostov on September 17.
